Elf Queen, the Queen of the Ainwood Guardians, her luminous eyes soft with empathy, took Audenn's hand. "You were always so impulsive back then," she whispered, her voice a melody intertwined with the rustling leaves. "Didn't you *know* my feelings? Rockforce wasn't what bound me to you. Thinking of your journey… my spirit still trembles."
Audenn, his rugged face etched with the memory of horrors, let out a heavy sigh that resonated like distant thunder. "Faye… your heart's song was my guide. But a warrior must prove his blade! How could I, unproven, ask for a place beside the Guardian Queen?" He clenched his fist, ancient runes faintly glowing along his forearm, a mark of his prowess as both warrior and keeper of the Elder Leafgrove Magic. "So, I sought the crucible. Deathweld Chasm."
A collective shudder ran through Moon Scar, Mystic Mystic Moon, Miao, and Miles. Even Girln Shi and Girln Li exchanged grim glances. The name *Deathweld Chasm* was a grimace etched on every soul who dared venture near it.
"I crossed contested lands, Syndicate patrols snapping at my heels like shadowhounds," Audenn's voice grew low, haunted. "Reaching the Chasm… that's when scale fell from my eyes. My power was a guttering candle flame against that abyssal dark. Deathweld isn't hell, Faye. It *wore* hell like a cloak. The air… it bites with decay. Deeper you go… deeper… the mundane nightmares fade, replaced by aberrations. Shambling necrotic things older than stone, crawling monstrosities woven from shadow and bone, skeletal horrors that once *roared* across the skies…" He paused, the silence thick with imagined dread. "One Elder Leafgrove blast might clear a patch, but the gloom itself seemed to breed more. Surrounded. Always surrounded. No retreat. Only the cold kiss of the grave reaching."
He slammed a fist onto the ancient wood table. "Luck? Fate? The Green Mother took pity. A sinkhole… narrow opening. Bigger terrors couldn't claw through. Only the small… the desiccated ones. I poured every shred of illusion I had into sealing that fissure, buying a moment's breath in the dark." His eyes held a century's pain. "We Guardians, Faye… our souls sing for fruits, for sunlight. But survival demanded tribute. Flesh. Rank, diseased meat ripped from monstrous corpses… the taste… the *violence* to my being… it still burns on my tongue." He shuddered. "I trained. Slaved. Tried to break free. But the Chasm is legion. Powers dwell there that laugh at mortal strength. That pit… it wasn't shelter. It was a coffin waiting to seal. A year, Faye. An *enternity* lost in stone and stench."
His gaze swept the room, landing on the wide-eyed humans. "Then… a shift. Like a tide turning. The greater predators… gone. Numbers thin. I seized the thread of madness, clawed my way back to Ainwood's embrace. And for three years after… dawn was greeted by screams echoing in my skull." He fixed Mystic Mystic Moon with a piercing stare. "Before I entered that darkness? I was considered a master of both blade and Grove Song among humans. And among my kin? A Guardian-Knight. Your little band here?" He nodded towards Moon Scar's team. "*Might* stand against the fighter I *was*. But step into Deathweld? Unless a sinkhole miracle finds you? Pray for a swift oblivion."
Mystic Mystic Moon's face, usually vibrant with mischief, had drained of color. Miao croaked, "Surely… surely it can't be that bleak?"
Audenn gave a humorless bark of laughter. "Words fail its horror. I tread only the outer rim, three miles in… a grainy speck on its borderlands. Deeper?" He shook his head. "Tandor't tempt waking nightmares." To dispel any lingering doubt, he lifted his hands. Whispering words that tasted of oak and sunlight, he drew symbols in the air. Space before him rippled like disturbed water. With a gesture, a shimmering rift tore open. Out tumbled seven or eight rough, uncut gemstones, pulsing with untamed elemental power. Fire red, sky blue, earth brown, storm violet… raw potential thrumming in the air.
"Lodestones," Audenn declared, handing them to a stunned Dunce. "Plucked from that cursed sinkhole walls. Pure primordial essence – what your world calls 'Prime Arcane Shards.' We Ainwood don't forge metal or bind arcane like human artificers. These stones… their song doesn't harmonize with the Grove. Yours. A paltry thanks against the debt we owe for our kin's lives."
Mystic Mystic Moon snatched a deep-blue shard from Dunce's palm, channeling a trickle of her potent energy. It blazed with cold fire. "Genius Loci grade… no doubt. These?" She whistled low. "On the Syndicate markets? Hundreds of thousands of Goldmarks, easy."
Dunce flinched as if burned. "Audenn! Such value… we can't…"
Audenn silenced him with a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Your actions speak of greater wealth, child. Take them. Your quest to the Chasm? Consider it paid." His smile didn't quite reach his haunted eyes. "Forget that place."
Queen Elf Queen gently cupped Dunce's scarred hand. Her touch radiated a deep, calming warmth, a feeling Dunce recognized dimly as the longing for something he'd never truly had – maternal care. "Take them, my dear one. A gift freely given. The quest for my lost Stella and her guardians… I ask not reckless courage, only keen eyes and true hearts. To find a trail. That is enough. What is your name, noble spirit?"
"Dunce," he mumbled, overwhelmed by her kindness. "You don't need gifts, ma'am. I'll find your people. Your daughter."
Moon Scar stepped forward, his expression resolute but shadowed. "The Chasm being what Audenn describes… any rational path lies elsewhere. Dunce, Mystic Mystic Moon," he nodded respectfully. "Our path diverges here. The Horizon Edge Mercenaries… we must decline the Queen's request." He met Elf Queen's luminous gaze. "Our apologies, Your Radiance. But the Shadow Consortium… their reach is long, their vengeance poison. Families… they cannot be risked. Survival dictates caution."
Moon Princess Petal opened her mouth, a protest dying on her lips as the grim reality settled. Miao and Miles stood silently behind Moon Scar, their unease palpable. The air in the sanctuary treehouse grew heavy.
Elf Queen's expression softened, tinged with sorrow. "No apology needed, Soldier Captain. The choice is each soul's own melody. You stand as friends to Ainwood, always."
As Moon Scar led his team out, Girln Shi locked eyes with his brother Girln Li. Not a word passed between them, yet understanding crackled like static. Girln Shi raised his hand, palm crackling with sharp, focused Geoforce energy – raw earth power honed to an edge. In swift, brutal strokes, he sheared his mane of thick, dark hair away. Girln Li followed suit without hesitation. Within moments, both warriors stood with tattooed scalps gleaming under the dappled light, symbols of their Dunceheart Clan now bare, a declaration shorn of past identity.
"The Dunceheart Clan bleeds for Ainwood, as it did for our ancestors," Girln Shi stated, his voice gravelly but firm. "Identity shed means family shielded."
Tears shimmered in Elf Queen's star-like eyes. "The Green Mother's blessing upon you, sons of the Dunceheart. Your courage sings with the strength of the mountains."
Dunce grinned, a spark of hope rekindling. "With you both? The path feels less shadowed. Mystic Mystic Moon?"
Mystic Mystic Moon tapped her chin, her earlier pallor replaced by a familiar spark of challenge. "Hmm, well, my father's reputation does make annoying Syndicates… *awkward*. They'd think twice before tangling with the Radiance. Yeah, I'm in." She flashed Elf Queen a confident grin. "Tandor't worry, Your Radiance. Annoying powerful shadows is practically a family pastime."
Elf Queen squeezed her hand. "Your bold spirit is a balm, child. Walk safe."
"So, Elf Queen," Mystic Mystic Moon asked, pragmatism taking over. "How do we find your kin? Whole continents to search!"
Elf Queen sighed, the worry returning. "The bitter truth is… we know not where the Consortium shadows took them. Syndicate domains seem unlikely… so three sprawling empires lie suspect."
She exchanged a look with Audenn and her other senior Keepers – Tianan Ying and two others. They gave solemn nods. Elf Queen raised her hands, drawing intricate symbols in the air that pulsed with verdant life. Pure nature energy coalesced, swirling into a ring of luminescent jade light that floated before her. With a soft incantation, the ring compressed, solidifying into a bracelet of exquisite, translucent green crystal. Delicate veins pulsed within its heart. Elf Queen pricked her fingertip, letting a single drop of shimmering emerald blood fall onto the bracelet. It absorbed the drop instantly, a crimson thread solidifying within its core.
"This," she breathed, placing it in Mystic Mystic Moon's eager hand, "is the Elven Echo Band. Beyond Ainwood's verdant veil, its pulse dims. But should any Guardian kin walk within a hundred miles… it awakens. This scarlet thread will point the way. If my Stella… if her Queen's blood calls… the thread will glow with the intensity of a captive star. A guide in the vastness."
Mystic Mystic Moon slipped it on her wrist, admiring its deep shine. "It's perfect, Your Radiance! Totally stunning. Protection guaranteed!"
Elf Queen's face became grave. "Its power is not for beauty, child. Should it fall into Consortium hands… finding us becomes a monstrous certainty. Guard it as the heartbeat of Ainwood itself."
Satisfied, the Queen turned to Dunce. She touched his chest lightly, and suddenly, her voice bloomed *inside* his mind, resonant and warm: *"You bear the wild spark, Dunce. It shines brighter than any gem in your compassion. Many humans walk this world, but your soul-song… it resonates with the untamed heart."*
Dunce blinked, unused to the psychic touch. "I… I'm not wise, ma'am. Slow to learn."
*"Wisdom blossoms in many soils. What I gift you next… let it find fertile ground."*
Returning to spoken words, she smiled. "Audenn, prepare the Ancestral Waters. It is time."
She beckoned Dunce to follow. Green light enveloped him as he floated beside her, out of the sanctuary and across the luminous surface of the Verdant Mirror – their sacred lake. They soared towards the colossal trunk of the World Stem Tree, the ancient heartwood glowing softly. They entered through a seamless opening high up in the trunk, descending into a hidden chamber deep within the living wood itself. The air hummed with ancient power.
Within the sanctum, beside artifacts humming with forgotten energies, sat a basin carved from petrified roots. Resting within shallow, glowing water was an enormous egg. Easily half a meter tall at its axis, its smooth shell was patterned with swirling, metallic scales of silver and deep sapphire blue, shimmering with captured light.
"A Titan Scale Egg?" Elf Queen whispered, awe colouring her tone. "Forged when giants walked the sky and scaled kings roared defiance. Perhaps… the last of its kind. Audenn unearthed it from that terrible sinkhole a century past. Barely a flicker of life remained. Bathed in the Mirror's essence and nourished by the World Stem's life-song… it revived. But our magic… it couldn't *awaken* it. Only a dragon's kin… or a kindred soul… might coax life from its shell. You, Dunce… touched by the wild spark… will you try? Wake this slumbering monarch… and perhaps walk a path only legend knows."
Dunce shook his head firmly. "Not dominion! Not control! Forcing such magnificence… it would be cruel."
Elf Queen smiled, warmth filling her luminous eyes. "Ah! A true nature's echo! So seek not a master, but a *partner*. An unbreakable soul pact, a shield against the darkness for this young king. Place your hand upon it."
As Dunce's rough hand touched the warm shell, a surge erupted. Not from the egg, but from his neck. The heavy, scale-etched obsidian pendant – the **Draconic Soulstone** gifted by Cult Leader Pulin – erupted in azure fire. The light engulfed the egg and Dunce. He felt a vast, slumbering *presence* stir, ancient and powerful, brushing against his consciousness with unexpected… *recognition*.
Elf Queen gasped, stepping back. "The Draconic Soul! Dunce, what…?"
He pulled the pendant free, the scale pattern blazing under the blue light. "Cult Leadere Pulin gave it. He said it was… 'The Heart of the Sky's Roar'?"
Recognition dawned on Elf Queen's face, profound and ancient. "The mantle of the Skybreaker… worn by the Chosen who walked with scaled kings millennia past…!" She focused, her voice resonant with ritual power. "The path unfolds! Spill your life's ink upon the shell!"
Understanding the profound moment, Dunce bit his thumb, letting a bead of crimson well. He smeared it onto the shimmering scale-pattern. Elf Queen's voice wove the ancient words, steeped in primal resonance: *"By my life's ink, witness sworn! Proud Holy Evil of the Skies, hear the call! Bind not as master, nor as thrall! But soul to soul, strength entwined, allies true to heart and mind! Let power flow, unbound, free! Through eternity and time decree!"*
As the final syllable resonated, the Soulstone flared impossibly bright. The Titan Scale Egg shimmered, its metallic patterns glowing molten, then began to *implode*. Not vanishing, but flowing like liquid light *into* the depths of the obsidian scale pendant. A deep, resonant thrum vibrated through Dunce's very bones. Within the stone's obsidian heart, he felt it – a presence, slumbering but now bound to his own rhythm, vast and ancient and waiting.
Elf Queen touched the Soulstone reverently. "The bond is forged! The World Stem couldn't birth the king… but the Heart of the Sky's Roar? Its essence *is* the cradle. Nurture it, Dunce. Protect it. When the Holy Evil King emerges… return him to the skies… as its rightful *guardian*."
She then retrieved a tightly bound scroll covered in swirling green sigils that thrummed with contained power. "One final boon. The Ancestral Summoning Scroll. If darkness engulfs you near my kin, shatter this seal. It opens a bridge to this sanctuary. All Keepers present within the World Stem's embrace – usually myself, Audenn, Tianan Ying – can step through… for two hours. A final shield. Use it when hope dims most… for its power sings but once."
Dunce took the scroll, its energy potent, strangely similar yet different from the stone Guardian Bastion Scroll Mystic Mystic Night had given his daughter. He felt the weight of Elf Queen's unspoken fear – the ticking clock on her daughter's unique protective blessing. "Your Stella… the power in her blood…"
"It fades," Elf Queen confirmed, sorrow deepening her luminous eyes. "Three years… no more. Find her before the shadows claim her soul shield."
"The Echo Band will lead us," Dunce vowed, gripping the Soulstone. Its warmth pulsed in time with the hidden power within.
They returned to the sanctuary. The mood had shifted. Moon Scar's team was gone, but Girln Shi, Girln Li, and Mystic Mystic Moon stood tall. A faint emerald sheen seemed to cling subtly to their skin, enhancing their vitality.
Elf Queen addressed them all. "Keepers and guardians, you've received the Blessing of the Primeval Springs. Not might granted… but a key turning within. A sharpened edge for your potential to grow. Your training… it will now find fertile ground, sprouting stronger, surer, *faster*." Her gaze settled on Dunce, the Soulstone resting against his chest, thrumming with unspoken power. "Rest now, heroes. The wild path awaits."
The scale-patterned obsidian pendant pulsed warmly against his skin, a silent drumbeat syncing with his own heartbeat. Within its infinite depth, the Titan Scale Egg rested, absorbing the essence of the ancient Skybreaker's legacy, awaiting the call to wake from its timeless slumber. Its power was both a gift and a sacred burden, the key to finding Stella… and perhaps, awakening a legend lost to time.